2 Cambridge University

Before you watch

1 SPEAKING   Work in pairs. Answer the questions.
1 What famous universities are there in your country?
2 What do you know about them?
3 What famous universities do you know in the UK?

Comprehension check
2 ⊲   Watch the DVD clip. Choose the correct answers.
1 How many students are there at Cambridge University?
a 800   b 9,000   c 18,000
2 Some students have to wear special clothes for
a lessons.   b dinner.   c reading.
3 Who was Francis Crick?
a  an actor   b  a scientist   c  a teacher

3 ⊲   Watch again. Complete the sentences with P for Pembroke College,

K for King’s College or T for Trinity College.
1   is over 650 years old.
2   has got over a thousand students and Fellows.
3   has got around 500 students.
4   is very famous.
5   is around 550 years old.
6   is around 475 years old.

4 ⊲   Watch again. Are the sentences true or false?

1 There are 31 colleges in the University of Cambridge.  true / false
2 Pembroke College has got more students than Trinity College.  true / false
3 Students always live in the colleges.  true / false
4 The River Cam is near King’s College.  true / false
5 Only one person can go in a punt.  true / false
6 You can’t see the colleges from ‘the Backs’.  true / false
7 Past Cambridge student Ian McKellen has got a beard.  true / false

Round up
5 SPEAKING   Work in groups. Answer the question.
Would you like to study at Cambridge University? Why? / Why not?

Solutions Third Edition Elementary  DVD worksheet 2 photocopiable © Oxford University Press
 Vocabulary
6 RECYCLE   Complete the text with the words below. There are two extra words.
dinner dressed English history lunch maths science

I have to wake up very early during the week. I get 1 in my school uniform
and eat breakfast – usually toast or cereal – and then go to school. In the morning,
the first lesson is 2 . I like it because I’m interested in learning about
3
the past. We also have in the morning. I know it’s important, but
I’m not very good with numbers. After lunch, we have 4 with Mr Brooks.
I  can understand it quite well but I need more speaking practice. I usually arrive
home at about 4.30 p.m. I do my homework for an hour and then at about 6 p.m.
we have 5 . I go to bed at 10 p.m.

7 Match the words below with the pictures from the DVD clip.
chapel college gown punting undergraduate

1 2 3

4 5

Extension
8 Work in groups. Imagine you are going to present some information and advice about schools in your
country to a group of British students. Think about the following:
• the school day
• what to wear to school
• school traditions
• how to make friends

9 Give your presentation. Use the key phrases for giving advice.

Giving advice
You should …
You shouldn’t …
Be friendly to everyone.
Don’t be late in the morning.

Solutions Third Edition Elementary  DVD worksheet 2 photocopiable © Oxford University Press
 2 DVD teacher’s notes

DVD clip summary

This DVD clip is about three of the colleges and some of the traditions at Cambridge University.

Background
The University of Cambridge (also known as Cambridge University) is situated in the city of Cambridge, in the
east of England, about 100 km north of London. It was founded in 1209 after a number of scholars at Oxford were
forced to leave the city following tensions with local people.
The university is made up of 31 independent colleges, over a hundred academic departments and six schools.
The colleges’ main responsibilities are the housing, welfare and teaching of undergraduates. The academic
departments are responsible for teaching and research and belong to the central university, which awards the
degrees.
Cambridge University is a public university and receives about a third of its funding for teaching and research from
the British government. It is also the wealthiest university in Europe, mainly because of the colleges, which own
large amounts of land and property.
Students wishing to attend the university must apply about a year before they wish to start. As well as having
excellent predicted results in their A-level exams, they must also attend an interview before being offered a place.
Fees for British and EU undergraduates at Cambridge are £9,250 per year (2017–2018).

Before you watch

Exercise 1
• Read the questions with the class and elicit answers from individual students. Encourage the students to guess the
answers they do not already know and use their suggestions to start a class discussion.
• Answers: Students’ own answers

Comprehension check
Exercise 2
• Pre-watching: Go through the questions with the students.
• ⊲   Play the whole DVD clip. The students choose the correct answers. Check their answers.
• Answers: 1  c  ​2 b  ​3 b
Exercise 3
• Pre-watching: Ask the students to read the sentences and try and decide which are about Pembroke College, King’s
College or Trinity College before they watch the DVD clip again.
• Weaker classes: Tell the students that each college matches two answers.
• ⊲   Play the DVD clip to check the answers.
• Answers: 1  P  ​2 T  ​3 P  ​4 K  ​5 K  ​6 T
Exercise 4
• Pre-watching: Ask the students to say if the sentences are true or false before they watch the DVD clip again.
• Weaker classes: Play the DVD clip first and pause after each answer.
• ⊲   Play the DVD clip to check the answers.
• Answers: 1  true  ​2 false  ​3 false  ​4 true  ​5 false  ​6 false  ​7 false

Round up
Exercise 5
• Put the students in groups. Give them a few minutes to discuss the question.
• Answers: Students’ own answers

Solutions Third Edition Elementary  DVD teacher’s notes 2 photocopiable © Oxford University Press
 Vocabulary
Exercise 6
• Ask the students to read through the text first, then complete the sentences. With a weaker class, you could elicit
the meanings of the words first.
• Answers: 1  dressed  ​2 history  ​3 maths  ​4 English  ​5 dinner
Exercise 7
• Ask the students to match the words with the pictures from the DVD clip.
• Answers: 1  college  ​2 chapel  ​3 undergraduate  ​4 gown  ​5 punting

Extension
Exercises 8 and 9
• Materials needed: None
• Preparation: Put the students in groups of three or four. Tell them that they are going to talk about schools
in their country to a group of students from Britain.
• Language: Encourage them to use the key phrases for giving advice.
• Activity: Ask the students to nominate two or three presenters and one note-taker in the group. Give the
students 8–10 minutes to talk about all the points and make notes. Then ask them to present their ideas to
the class, who are pretend visitors from Britain. Set a time limit for each presentation of 2–3 minutes.
• Extension: Ask the students to write a guide for British students coming to study at their school.

Solutions Third Edition Elementary  DVD teacher’s notes 2 photocopiable © Oxford University Press
 2 DVD script

Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is famous all over the world. It’s over 800 years old and
shares a lot of things with the University of Oxford – the UK’s other ancient university.
Today, Cambridge has 18,000 students, 9,000 staff and 31 colleges. Many of these
colleges are very old and students here do all kinds of subjects, like English, maths,
history and science.
Pembroke College is over 650 years old. The building isn’t as old as that, but it’s still in
the same location. Today, there are around 500 students here.
King’s College is around 550 years old and is one of the university’s most famous
colleges. For many people its chapel is a symbol of the university.
Trinity College is around 475 years old. It has around 600 undergraduates, 300
graduates and 180 Fellows. A Fellow is a teacher at the university.
Students don’t have to live in these colleges, but they often do. In the colleges,
students’ rooms are near the classrooms so students don’t have to get up early!
They can just get dressed, eat breakfast and go straight to their lecture. It’s very
convenient! They enjoy the many traditions too. In some colleges, students have to
wear long, black gowns when they have dinner and they sometimes have to wear
them during exams too.
Another famous Cambridge tradition is ‘punting’. Behind Trinity College and King’s
College is the River Cam and tourists often go punting here. They push a long, flat
boat – a punt – with a large stick along a part of the river called ‘the Backs’. There are
fantastic views of a lot of the colleges here. All of these colleges are different, but
together they all make up the university.
The University of Cambridge has a fantastic reputation. It’s one of the top universities
in the UK and people come from all over the world to study here. Past Cambridge
students include Prince Charles, the actor Ian McKellen and the scientists Francis Crick
and James Watson – the discoverers of DNA.
Cambridge is a great place to study and it’s a fantastic place to live.

Solutions Third Edition Elementary  DVD script 2 photocopiable © Oxford University Press